1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the in situ treatment of bedding substrates that are exposed to live farm animals and their waste products.
2. Background of the Related Art
Domestic farm animals, such as chickens, dairy cows, horses, sheep, goats, and pigs, are often kept on a bedding material that can absorb or cover much of their own feces and urine to prevent undue contact with the animals. The use of the bedding may be continuous, such as in the typical six-week growth period of chickens in grow houses, or only for special purposes, such as when livestock are taken into a barn from the field. Depending upon availability and the type of animal, these bedding materials may include wood shavings, wood chips, wood pellets, sawdust, straw and sand.
However, as the bedding material receives an increasing load of animal waste and the waste remains in the bedding material for an extended period of time, the odors produced from the bedding layer become very strong. In fact, one of the odorous gases is ammonia, which is blamed for irritating or burning the throats of the chickens and causes them to eat less of their feed and perhaps become more susceptible to infection and disease.
Most odors identified as objectionable to human beings are the result of volatile compounds generated or liberated during the decomposition of manure. Odorous compounds may be a result of biological reactions occurring primarily in an anaerobic environment because many of the odorous compounds commonly found in fresh manure become more concentrated during anaerobic decomposition. Some of the odors emanating during the decomposition of manure may also be the result of biological processes carried out during aerobic decomposition.
Odors originating from manure are a result of a broad range of odor producing compounds. Commonly reported odorous compounds associated with manure and waste water are gases which are released from the manure during decomposition. Examples of these gases include sulfur-containing gases such as hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen-containing gases in the amine form such as ammonia, mercaptans, volatile organic acids, phenols, and alcohols. Some of these odorous compounds have determinable points at which the odors affect human beings. For example, ammonia present at a concentration of 10 ppm may cause irritation to eyes and nose, and hydrogen sulfide present at a concentration of 10 ppm is toxic and may cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, unconsciousness, and death. The wide range of odorous compounds from manure increase the complexity of odor control solutions.
Poultry raised commercially by intensive farming methods use high-density growth conditions that can transmit disease through the poultry house and, more particularly, the bedding. The poultry house bedding is a substrate for the poultry to stand on and provides a natural target for pecking. In addition, birds peck the bedding as they would naturally peck the ground in search of food and grit for their gizzard. Grit is used in a bird's gizzard as a means to grind food. As birds ingest waste products that have been deposited throughout the poultry house, and particularly in the bedding, certain pathogenic organisms such as bacteria, viruses and parasites are introduced into the bird's digestive system. As an example, the common disease coccidiosis is transmitted from bird to bird through feces that is mingled with the bedding and then ingested by the birds. It is also known in the industry that ingestion of bedding by commercially raised poultry is a common source of several other diseases caused by pathogens such as Salmonella, Clostridia and other endoparasites, viruses and bacteria.
Presently, treatment for such diseases includes the addition of anticoccidials and any other medications to feed and/or water for the treatment and/or prevention of such specific pathogen-based diseases. Other common medications for such diseases include antibiotics such as, for example, ionophores, which include Salinomycin and Monensin.
However, there remains a need for improved methods of treating farm animal bedding materials and the waste products deposited on the bedding materials. It would be greatly desirable if the method would eliminate the offensive odors associated with farm animal waste. It would also be desirable if the method improved the health of the animals, such as by reducing the presence of pathogenic bacteria, and improved the performance and efficiency of the animal farming operation. It would be further desirable if the method did not require any major changes to existing farm practices.